Moscow

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it the full treatment it deserves. Way back in the days of the Republic of Texas, a man named David Green settled in what would become Polk County. Just one man, one piece of ground, and a whole lot of East Texas around him.

The first post office that grew up there carried his name, plain and simple: Green's, established in 1847. But by 1853, somebody decided the place needed a grander name, and Moscow is what it got. Three years after that, in 1856, Moscow was incorporated, a real town with papers to prove it.

And it was already earning its keep, sitting right on the Nacogdoches to Liberty Road as a stage stop, the kind of place where travelers could catch their breath before the road swallowed them up again. Now here's something worth noticing. Moscow had a free school system as far back as 1851, and the marker doesn't let that slip by quietly.

Several famous schools grew up in this little town over the years. While other places were still arguing about whether to bother educating their children, Moscow was already doing it. Out on the industry side of things, early Moscow ran a cannery putting up vegetables and fruit, and, this is the one that makes you look twice, a Bible column factory.

That's what the marker calls it. A factory making architectural pillars, right there in the Piney Woods. Then 1881 rolled around, and the railroad came, and Moscow became an important railroad town.

And when it came to railroads, Moscow didn't do things the way everyone else did. They built their own line, the Moscow, Camden and San Augustine Railroad, seven miles long. Seven miles.

The marker will tell you flat out, that makes it one of the shortest railroads in the state of Texas. David Green picked his spot, and the town that grew up around his name turned out to have a lot more going on than the map would ever let on.

What the marker says

Settled by David Green, during era of the Republic of Texas. First post office established under name of Green's in 1847. Changed to Moscow in 1853. Incorporated in 1856. Was stage stop on the Nacogdoches- Liberty Road. Site of several famous schools. Has had free school system since 1851. A cannery for vegetables and fruit and Bible column factory (making architectural pillars) were early industries. In 1881 became important railroad town. Its seven-mile Moscow, Camden & San Augustine is one of the shortest railroads in Texas.